The design of a garment pattern is the operation which consists in drawing the manual or computerized outline of a geometric architectural construction connected with given structural references. The particular contours obtained as well as certain specific reference marks internal or external to the outline, determined on the basis of the main anatomical points of the human body, define the basic image of the constituent figures of a garment, by means of an accurate drawing. All of these various drawn pieces together form the pattern or basic design of the future garment. Subsequently, on the basis of this outline, the technician or designer will cut out the pieces from the materials chosen to make the garment.
Traditionally, two distinct methods are used for producing a basic design, the flat construction technique and the technique of modelling on a mannequin. The use of one or other of these methods or both simultaneously is applied depending on the objectives to be achieved and as a function of the chosen path: craftsmen, cottage industry or industrial-scale. The combined practice of both techniques often proves necessary in a search for a complement relative to the mutual theoretical or practical advantages or disadvantages of each method.
Construction using modelling, a technique which goes way back and is still very widely used in haute couture, by designers, and by craftsman tailors, has the advantage of giving an overall view of the desired volumes, makes it possible to capture the first silhouette and allows a wide degree of creative expression right from the inception of the design. However, this technique naturally lacks accuracy, and plays with the stylishness of the garment without true logical progression, and shows the physical appearance of the design without any true ability to finalize it. In this sense, construction using volume still requires subsequent flat adjustment.
The forced association of the two methods bears witness to their mutual technical weaknesses. Neither is any longer sufficient for the requirements of modern industrial-scale manufacture or for the diversified and rapidly-changing nature of today's fashions.
Traditional flat construction provides a method for applying measurements and calculations which gives the outline relative precision. The practical procedure is carried out in the first instance by drawing the reference structures or construction lines based on the anatomical points and then by drawing the required shapes: neck, armholes, shapes of forks, lines and various curves. The outline of the elements for putting together and finishing the seams and tucks completes the procedure. This path is often undertaken according to a given method on the basis of the required measurements for a reference base.
This system allows two-dimensional drawing, piece by piece, of a base intended for industrial-scale manufacture. Nevertheless, the technique remains complicated, rigid, and with a limited creative expression, mainly owing to the numerous mathematic or geometric calculations inherent to the method. What is more, all the pieces are designed separately and the transferring of curves for the assemblies is done using calculations of outlines which are relatively approximate and somewhat incoherent. The use of this method results, for example, in no original harmonious link connecting collar and neck, sleeve and armhole and possible proportional fitting. The result obtained masters the notion of balance, control of volume and of shape only with difficulty. The same is true of the mastering of the fullness, of the orientation and forwardness of the sleeves as well as of the position of the seams. The weakness of the method is demonstrated with the difficulty in joining together seams which are biased at various degrees with certain materials such as, for example, polyester microfibers.
In general, the application of the traditional flat construction method does not allow the fundamental principle of the "comfort" of the garment to be attained effectively and, in order to meet the requirements of modern industrial-scale manufacture necessitates a very excessive production lead time. Through the need of having to conduct numerous tests and make numerous prototypes and subsequent modifications, the two abovementioned construction methods all too frequently lead to a loss in time and viability.
Such a traditional and two-dimensional method intended for producing a pattern for pieces of garments with sleeves, especially of jackets, blazers, coats, overcoats, dresses, shirts and blouses is described, for example, in the document FR-A-560,154 which dates from 1992. This method is based solely on the measurements taken on the subject, to the exclusion of the so-called "proportion" measurements. It can thus easily be seen that this method has no industrial-scale application.